Angie Chirino scores a big hit – running

By Fernie Ruano Jr.

What woman in a red dress wouldn’t spread enough confidence and pride throughout a ballroom, if she’s not being stared at with the kind of envy that would make every man want to dance “cheek to cheek” and secure “beauty ” by his side as British-Irish singer Chris de Burgh crooned in 1986-hit, “Lady in Red”?

Unless you’re newly-minted, competitive runner Angie Chirino and the only thing on your mind last October at Jungle Island – other than wondering how in the world you managed to fit into a spaghetti-strap red dress – was a round, glossy vegetable found in the produce section of a supermarket.

“I looked like a freaking tomato,” said 45-year-old Chirino, a special education teacher, part-time songwriter and well-rounded foodie, whose passion for cooking stretches from borrowing Perez Hilton’s internet-cookie recipes to taking over the two-pronged fork on Sunday afternoons at her dad’s house.

Chirino, training for her second race after completing the 11 Freedom 5k in 30:23 earlier this month on Hollywood Beach, could barely stomach pictures of herself in the red dress while at the event, despite all the glowing messages circulating on social media.

Well, for the most part.

“You know how it is. It starts; you look great, you look amazing, you look this, you look that, but there’s always that one, but; that one but,” said Chirino, who has been running three miles twice a week for several months despite shin splints and sore knees.

“There’s always that one but, that one. And there was somebody that said, “Angie that can’t be possibly be you. No way, that has to be an old picture of you, or something.”

That one “but” was enough to get an uncomfortable Chrino, admittedly 40 pounds overweight, out of the red dress and off to Zumba class, where she almost fell over from exhaustion after completing a one-mile Indian run in 16 minutes as an introduction.

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Recharged: Angie Chirino, a special education teacher, recently completed her first competitive 5K.

The motivation? Chirino, daughter of Miami-based, Cuban singer-songwriter Willy Chirino and part of a family with an  imprint in the Latin music industry, was weeks away from a live performance with several of her sisters at a local school.

“How did I feel?” said Chirino, running for the first time in almost five years. “The truth is, I just challenged myself because in my mind I had to be ready (for the show), if I didn’t die first. I thought I was going to die!”

Motivated at mid-life by a teenage daughter dreaming of Broadway, the need to serve and see her special education students blossom, and a reborn passion for songwriting the personable Chirino, childlike during a 45-minute conversation, even while icing her knees down, has plenty of miles and good cheer left to burn, according to a recent study.

The study, conducted by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, concluded 45% of all runners are less likely to suffer from any cardiovascular diseases compared to non-runners. 

Researchers, who took 13,000 runners and divided them into five groups based on how many minutes they ran per week, found that individuals that run for at least five minutes a day reduced their risk of premature death by nearly one-third and extended their lives by three years.

“Today, right this very second, I feel like I can do anything, and I’m in a very happy place” said Chirino, who suffered the unsteadiness of the music industry despite co-writing “Dimelo” (I Need to Know), Marc Anthony’s 1999 hit off his self-titled album.

But that was a decade ago, when Chirino would drop off her daughter at school. Well, her daughter is now months away from heading to college and Chirino is back on her feet – running.

And strengthening her time management skills, if not exploring and imagining.

“I’m truly in love with myself (again), “ said Chirino. “Sometimes we find ourselves in a comfort zone. I can honestly tell you, I’ve broken out of my comfort zone.”

Chirino, who keeps a steady diet of boiled eggs, salads, yogurts and tuna during the workweek, and eats “everything” on weekends, including daddy’s famous barbeque on Sunday, is targeting early-2015 for her first 10k and doesn’t see a marathon in her future.

Today, the only thing Chirino sees, when she’s not out running to 80’s music and unintentionally motivating fellow teachers to follow her footsteps, is a mirror to laugh out at, especially when it’s time to decide what to wear to a commercial filming with her sisters.

“Now, I just laugh to myself when I hear everybody asking what I’m going to wear,” said Chirino. “I don’t cringe anymore when I look at the mirror.”

Do you want to know more about this 305-reeking, beach-bumming, Cuban food-obsessed dude? Well, then.. You can connect with Fernie @wordbyfernie (Twitter) and Fernie Ruano (Facebook). Who knows? If he really likes you, he might even give you his email.